Dryer-added fabric conditioning products provide a better convenience to the consumer as compared to the rinse-added fabric conditioning products because they spare the consumer the requirement of having to be present at the beginning of the rinse cycle.
There are two main types of dryer-added fabric conditioning products, namely, single use products and multiple-use products. Single use products, most commonly in the sheet form coated with a fabric conditioning composition, calls for adding a single sheet into an automatic clothes dryer containing a wet laundry load at the beginning of the drying cycle. Examples of this type of product are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,442,692 to Gaiser and U.S. Pat. No. 3,686,025 to Morton et al.
Multiple use fabric conditioning products are placed in the interior of the dryer to release the fabric conditioning active to successive laundry loads. Each multiple-use product lasts many drying cycles, from a few cycles to about 50 or more cycles. Said product can either be an unattached article that is added to an automatic clothes dryer and is tumbled along with a wet laundry load, or an article that is releasably attached to the interior of an automatic dryer drum. An example of an unattached multiple use fabric conditioning article is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,676,199 issued Jul. 11, 1972 to Hewitt et al.
The products can be attached to the interior of the dryer, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Appl. Publ. No. 2003/0192197 A1 published Oct. 16, 2003 to Griese et al., and U.S. Pat. Appl. Publ. No. 2003/0195130 A1 published Oct. 16, 2003 to Lentsch et al. The softener active, which is preferably solid at room temperature, can soften or melt under the clothes dryer operating temperature, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat No. 3,696,034, or only softens at a temperature above the clothes dryer operating temperature, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Appl. Publ. Nos. 2003/0192197 and 2003/0195130 A1. In use, this type of article is attached to the inside wall of a dryer, such as on a dryer fin, and a wet laundry load is tumbled in the presence of said article while being dried in order to receive the conditioning benefits. After drying, the laundry is removed but the article is left in place and is ready for the next load of wet laundry for drying. This article provides increased convenience to the consumer as its use requires less effort to use than single use products while eliminating searching for unattached multiple use products after each drying cycle.
However, releasably attached multiple use fabric conditioning articles have presented users with an unexpected problem, in that it is difficult for a user to install the product and/or replace the product when it reaches the end of its effective life cycle, given that many household clothes dryers are placed rather low on the floor and have a rather small opening. Thus, it can be awkward and/or difficult for a user, especially a big, heavy-set, overweight, tall, and/or obese user, to bend down and use both hands and arms to install and/or replace the product in the interior of a clothes dryer.
The present invention relates to improvements to solve this unexpected problem.